Nightmare
by St. Harridan
Summary: Even big badasses have nightmares sometimes. This is a rather...odd one.


**Title:** Kenpachi's Nightmare

**Author:** St. Harridan

**Rating:** T

**Fandom: **Bleach

**Character(s)/Pairing(s):** Zaraki Kenpachi, Kusajishi Yachiru

**Theme:** 2 – Terror in the night

**Genres:** Horror, Humor, Family

**Warnings:** Kenpachi-style swearing.

**Words: **1217

**Summary:** Kenpachi's afraid of clowns but he's got Yachiru there to protect him from them.

**Disclaimer:** Do not own Bleach.

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Stepping out into the night, he felt the cold breeze strike his skin, biting into his bones, trying to wither them away. He shrugged it off, being more than used to the cold. It was nothing to him. There were nights where it was even worse than this. Nights where he had to walk under icy rain as thunder cracked and lightning flashed overhead, casting bright white light unto his bare torso as if it wanted the whole world to see how ridiculous he was. A lowlife like him, wandering the streets of the 80th District with nothing but a dirty, frayed hakama and a jagged sword by his side. Oh, they'd laugh all right – until he sliced their fucked up throats wide open and bathed in their blood. Whoever ridiculed him paid the price.

He was standing in an open wide area which was Squad 11's outdoor training grounds. It was the place where those idiots pitched their strengths against each other with both of them boasting their own skill and talent with the sword. At the end of each duel, only one of them would be boasting. But in some cases, that big talk was absent. Only silence with maybe a few groans and grunts thrown in from either party could be heard.

On the other side of the training grounds, opposite from where he was, stood a dark shadow. A looming shape of black.

"Who's there?" he barked. "Show yerself, ye god damn coward." As he traced the hilt of his sword lightly with the tips of his fingers, the big blob of a shadow slowly shifted, transforming before his very eyes into a humanoid figure. A hulking ape with a bad hunched back and arms longer than was possible. He scoffed loudly as a grin edged its way to his face, parting dry lips to reveal canine teeth that were just too sharp for comfort. Normally, people would be running by then, but the ape kept advancing closer and closer and when it was near enough, he could see that it had a black cloak wrapped tightly around its body, concealing whatever that was beneath.

It lunged at him. With instinct and reflexes born from years of practice, he side-stepped and countered with a slash to its stomach. Black blood travelled in arcs in the air, blending in completely with the equally ebony sky. Reeling back with a squeal of anguish that made him grin with more excitement, it charged forward with outstretched claws that were designed to hook and tear at one's throat. Dodging with ease, he up swung his blade, slicing through what could be its face in a deadly uppercut.

"Coward!" he mocked, but his sneer lost all of its infamous confidence when the cloak parted at the tear, revealing a most hideous, stark white face that comprised of a red, swollen nose, high cheekbones painted with blue swirls, an afro of neon green hair and huge, puckered lips that shone with an impossible amount of glitter that seemed to come right out of a certain little runt's toolbox.

He was frozen in place, his arm still suspended in the air from the uppercut. The only thing that managed to jerk him out of his trance was a hard kick to the stomach that knocked the breath right out of his lungs.

Eyes snapping open – though only one wasn't blinded by an eye patch – Zaraki Kenpachi choked back a yelp of shock as he was confronted by a pair of shining ruby eyes. He didn't feel his sword nearby so his first reaction was to shove to the side whatever it was that was pressing down on his chest, obstructing his airways. With the weight gone, he sucked in gulps of air, revelling and, maybe for the first time in his life, appreciating the coolness of a well-known gas that seemed to give life to all living creatures – humans and shinigami alike. He forgot what that gas was called. To hell with it.

"Ken-_chan_!"

Upon hearing that all-too-familiar whine, Kenpachi breathed out slowly and turned to find Yachiru lying on her stomach beside him with an aggravated expression plastered to her face.

"What's up, brat?" he said nonchalantly, then peered into her eyes. Ruby-coloured irises. Weight on chest. _Oh, shit._

"That hurt, ya big meanie!" she cried, leaping to her feet and jumping on the bed. Rolling his eyes, Kenpachi pushed the girl back down just as visions of a big, red nose appeared in his mind. Green afro. Blue cheeks. A shiver ran through Kenpachi as he tried to push the disturbing images away. He ran a hand across his forehead, realizing just now that he was bathed in sweat, and ruffled his hair that was matted to his scalp. As much as he tried to mask it, a shuddering breath escaped his chapped lips, twirling Yachiru's pink strands around her face.

The girl settled on his chest, snuggling the lower half of her face into her forearms, peeking over them with her bright eyes that reflected innocent laughter and memories of her childhood. Not that she had much of one, what with travelling around the Rukongai with him from the most merciless district to the very heart of Soul Society where law and order reigned.

"What d'ye want?" Stupid question. Kenpachi already knew what she wanted.

"Looks like someone's gotten a nightmare," she said in a sing-song tone. He brushed it off with a growl, wiping the sweat from his brows with the back of his hand.

"Shut up. Ye're the one with the nightmare."

"Hmm..." Yachiru tilted her head to the side, making a show of thinking out loud. "I'm _pret-_ty sure that I wasn't the one screamin' 'coward, coward' in my sleep."

He scoffed, resting his forearm over his eyes to indicate that he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep – despite the possibility that that ugly as fuck face could appear before him once he closed his eyes. "How can ye be so sure, eh? Must be you. No one but you'd be screamin' that loud."

"Wanna bet?"

"No." He really needed to stop letting the brat in on Ikkaku's betting and gambling. That guy was a bad influence, not to mention his attraction to big tits that could turn Yachiru into a...ugh, what Kenpachi needed right now, first and foremost, was to go back to sleep so that he wouldn't start thinking about other more disturbing things. He felt Yachiru curling up beside him, a small ball of pink and black next to his broad, weathered, scarred torso.

"Don't worry, Ken-chan. I'll protect you," she said, her warm breath tingling the area of skin where it touched, like a heated feather brushing against the hard, rough scales of a snake.

"Che," Kenpachi scoffed below his breath. He wrapped an arm around her, grip tightening slightly but ever so protectively, watching as she dozed off. No, she wasn't going to be the one to protect him. Kenpachi let out a soft sigh as he cursed that fucked up face of sickly vibrant colours.

_Not if I protect ye first, ye lil' runt. _

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_**R&R!**_  
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End file.
